“And what’s this folder you mentioned?”
Hunter pursed his lips, making it obvious he wasn’t going to comment. It didn’t matter anyway. Colt was my priority — I needed answers from him. He was the one caught up in this situation with me.
Colt’s mouth opened, closed, and reopened, but no sound came out. The silence was deafening.
With a sudden jerk, Hunter rose from the chair in front of his desk and walked past me to the door. He left the room without saying a single word, and I stared after him in astonishment.
“Did he really just walk out of here like that?”
Colt took a deep breath, his hands shaking slightly. “He’ll be back. He probably just wanted us to … sort out some shit first.”
“What the hell is going on, Colt?” I asked with a furrowed brow. This was all beginning to feel rather ominous. How much worse could it be, given that our sex tape had already been leaked?
“Hailey, I …” He ran his hands through his hair, his eyes wild, desperate. “Fuck. I didn’t want you to find out about any of this.”
“Yeah, well, we’re going to talk about that.” Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I pinned him with my gaze.
Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back against the wall with a dull thud. “God, you’re going to hate me after this.”
“Bullshit.” I snorted.
He laughed incredulously. “Yeah, right. Well, what the hell, here goes nothing. As you already know, I didn’t develop an infatuation with you out of the blue, and over the years, I’ve built up a little … collection. Pictures that you posted, pictures that I secretly took or paid others to take.” He raked his fingers through his hair, tugging on the ends, before dropping them to his side again.
“While we’re at it, I might as well confess that I followed you when you went out on dates. I was practically stalking you, and if I’m being completely honest—” He laughed darkly again, rolling his head from side to side on the wall, his eyes still closed. “I’m not the least bit sorry about it, and I’d do it all over again.”
I was at a complete loss for words.
I blinked at him, my mouth hanging open, while his face was contorted almost painfully, as if he was bracing himself for something. I was well aware of the fact I was supposed to feel disturbed, that this was not the most normal of behaviors, but after everything I had done, I was in no position to throw stones, considering I was sitting in the fucking proverbial glass house. In fact, when it came down to it, I was probably worse than he was. At the very least, we were relatively evenly matched, and for some reason, that made me feel good.
In my mind, we had always been a good match, but knowing he was just as crazy about me as I was about him only solidified things.
“Colt.” He still refused to look at me as I stepped up to him so close my chest was almost brushing his front.
“Look, Hailey, I know I didn’t deserve you in the first place, much less with all this stuff on top of it. You’re probably disgusted with me right now, and that’s totally understandable. But I promise you that I will do everything in my power to fix this shit.”
I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest. Isn’t it just great to have a man tell you how you’resupposedto feelabout something? I knew it was his insecurities talking, but we were caught up in yet another miscommunication. If he would have had a conversation with me instead of making assumptions and keeping secrets, he’d know exactly how I felt.
Scoffing, I said, “Let’s get a few things straight before we continue. Before we clear up all that talk of ‘deserving’ and ‘disgusting,’ you should know that I’m in no way better than you. As a matter of fact, I’m probably even worse. If it makes you feel any better, I could tell you about the time I snuck into your room during our vacation together and touched your dick while you were asleep.”
His eyes flew open, almost popping out of his skull.
I met his gaze with a raised eyebrow. “I’d say that’s a little more serious than a few pictures, wouldn’t you? Considering most of them were meant for you anyway, since you were the only person added to my private story.”
“W-what? You touched …What?!”
“Your dick. Until you came all over my hand. In my defense, you were moaning my name in the dream, so I figured you wouldn’t really mind.”
He spluttered. “Holy shit. The dream I …that wasn’t a dream?”
“Well, part of it was, I guess, but I was definitely there for the grand finale.” I tilted my head to the side. “Are you disgusted with me now?”
“No way. If anything, I’m more intrigued by you.” Colt shook his head, his eyes still as wide as saucers, and he had the look of a man reconsidering everything he had thought to be true. “Hold on — what do you mean the pictures were meantfor me?”
“I mean, you’re the one I posted them for. You’re literally the sole owner of those pictures, and they were only meant for your eyes, anyway.” I shrugged and looked up at him, one corner of my mouth pulled up in an embarrassed smile. “So I’m not exactly upset that you got them, since their whole purpose was to catch your eye.”
“Catch my eye.” He snorted. “Couldn’t fucking think straight half the time whenever your notifications went off.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You had the notifications turned on?”
